Join Us Live at the New York Stock Exchange
April 14, 12:00-1:00PM ET

Join Discovery Education and the New York Stock Exchange on April 14, 2011 from 12:00-1:00PM ET as we go live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. We'll introduce your middle and high school students to the basics of stock ownership and initiate a dialogue on financial responsibility.

Register Your Classroom Today at http://www.discoveryeducation.com/nyse/index.cfm

During this exclusive online event that requires only an internet connected computer, your students will have the opportunity to:

• Meet young market professionals: brokers, designated market makers, and technology experts, who will guide classrooms through stock market terminology and describe their roles at the exchange
• Interact with executives from the NYSE and financial experts who will introduce students to the basics of financial responsibility and stock ownership and answer student questions
• Gain insights into market volatility by tracking stock activity live, during a companion chat session

Welcome To the Connecticut EconChallenge ONLINE!

The Challenge is about to begin:

• March 30, 2011 - Teacher Registration Begins - Come to www.econchallenge.org and register.

• April 4th through April 12th, 2011 - Online Competition - Teams login and face the Challenge!

• April 27, 2011 - National Semifinals - The Semifinals round will be a written test held simultaneously at the schools of all state champions. Principals will be responsible for identifying a test room and a proctor, and for affirming that test conditions were conducive to ensuring fair results. The six top scoring teams from around the country will advance to the National Finals in New York City to compete for the National Championship title.

• May 21 and 22, 2011 - National Finals - The six top qualifying teams from the National Semifinals will compete for the national title in New York City. Each member of the winning team and their teacher will receive lucrative prizes. The runner-up teams and their teachers will also receive prizes. Most travel expenses for the National Finals will be paid by CEE.

Join hundreds of high school students across the state in this great academic smack down.

• Teachers - Register today and start creating your student teams.
• Students - Study hard, the EconChallenge ONLINE! will test you and your knowledge of Economics.

Every student and teacher in Connecticut is invited to compete in the EconChallenge. Teachers can create as many student teams as they'd like, and the Connecticut Council on Economic Education and University of Connecticut Center for Economic Education will pay all registration and participation fees.

Good luck to all our student competitors. The EconChallenge ONLINE! is a great way to flex your intellectual muscle and participate with students from across Nebraska in an exciting and fun competition.

The CT Council owes very special thanks to to the generosity of Choate Rosemary Hall, its Alumni, Headmaster, Edward J. Shanahan, and the dedicated instructor, Mr. Ted Hartsoe for making this year's CT Challenge possible.

Contact us if you need information or assistance.

ATTN: SMG WINNERS

We regret to announce our decision to postpone this event until fall. Unfortunately, the busy time of year and location of the event made it too difficult for many of the schools to participate in the ceremony.  We hope that a future date will allow us to secure a better turnout and more centrally located venue to recognize the winning team's outstanding achievements.  

You will be notified as soon as a new date and location for the event has been established.

Our sincere apologies to those who were able to make arrangements to attend.

Congratulations on your accomplishments!  We wish you a safe and happy summer vacation.

The Stock Market Game™

The University of Connecticut Center for Economic Education and the Connecticut Council for Economic Education with the generous support of the Bank of America Foundation is proud to bring the students and other citizens of Connecticut the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Foundation's Stock Market Game™ (SMG) gives students the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an on-line portfolio. They think they're playing a game. You know they're learning economic and financial concepts they'll use for the rest of their lives.

Have Your Students Join the Green Stock Market Game!

The Green division of the Stock Market Game Simulation (“GSMG”) offers a unique opportunity for students to engage in a stock market investment simulation in publicly traded American companies that positively address climate change, and human rights.

It promotes researching these issues and investing in companies that are positioned to protect their investors from the impact of climate change as well as take advantage of opportunities to provide new products and services. This educational experience employs the Foundation for Investor Education’s traditional Stock Market GameTM program, and overlays it with stock selection
criteria employing the KLD Research and Analytics (“KLD”) screening software. The game will use the KLD “Environment” and “Human Rights” evaluation criteria to determine whether or not companies are acting in ways that are consistent with well defined standards of corporate conduct in the areas of climate change and human rights. Stocks will be selected based on these criteria. Then the game will simulate making investments in those companies in the traditional Stock Market GameTM program of the Foundation for Investor Education.

Student participants in this GSMG simulation enter their specific equity choices into the KLD “screens” for environmental and human rights accountability. Only those equities that on balance have greater strengths than weaknesses and thereby pass the overall Qualitative Issues review for KLD screens on Environment and Human Rights accountability, may be included in the student’s GSMG portfolio for the Green GameTM.

At the end of the 10 week game period, the winner of the special Green Division will be determined by the asset value of their portfolio. The purchase of a stock that on balance does not address the environmental or human rights issues and thereby fails the KLD screen for either will disqualify a team from the competition.

MORE INFO

In the News

Announcing New Federal Reserve Board  Website

http://www.federalreserve.gov/creditcard/

The Connecticut Economy

A Quarterly Review of the Connecticut Economy

http://cteconomy.uconn.edu/

Research Papers in Economics

http://repec.org/

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/index.html

Bloomberg.com

http://www.bloomberg.com/?b=0&Intro=intro3

Volunteer

Give a workshop for the Center! If you are interested and would like more info, please fill out the form below:

Workshops

Workshops will be custom tailored to your school or schools' needs. The Center with Connecticut Council on Economic Education support offers workshops in areas such as teaching economics in Mathematics or teaching economics in American or World History. These economic concepts will not only teach students reasoning and critical thinking skills, but enhance the core subject matter itself.

We also can provide current topics workshops on such issues as Globalization, Economic Development, Poverty and Wealth, etc. Financial literacy, entrepreneurship and career forecasts and prospects might also of interest to you and your teachers.

If you have an idea or a need for workshops please contact us and we will try to accommodate your request(s).

We can also provide discounts on almost any and all economic and financial literacy materials for your district from the AP economics level to elementary. Please see the National Council on Economic Education website http://www.ncee.net/ for examples, but we are, of course, not limited to those materials.

Contact William Alpert to schedule a workshop.

The Center for Economic Education offers UCONN Economics Classes "Blended" (On Line and High School Instructor) or traditionally (in person)!

The Center for Economic Education and the Economics Department offers University of Connecticut courses in high schools with/or without on line support!  These courses are offered via the University’s Early College Experience Program

UConn Early College Experience (ECE) is a concurrent enrollment program that allows motivated high school students to take UConn courses at their high schools for both high school and college credit. Every course taken through UConn ECE is equivalent to the same course at the University of Connecticut. Students benefit by taking college courses in a warm setting that is both familiar and conducive to learning.

MORE INFO

Long Term Investing Game

Most investors make their stock market investments for years, not weeks or months. This is known as “buy and hold” investing. “The Long Term Investing for a Better World: Statewide Investment Competition” is designed to give students the opportunity to learn about and describe their selection rationale for investments based on issues that determine the investment’s long term expected value. Since the Stock Market GameTM cannot be run over a five year period, the long term investing competition will be based on an essay that describes the rationale for the stock selection of a portfolio that is expected to yield superior net returns over a five year time period.

As with the stock market game, this aspect of the game will involve teams of up to four students. Using a hypothetical $100,000, students will select a minimum of four domestic equities and a maximum of 10 stocks to make up a long-term portfolio. This portfolio should be designed to maximize net returns over a period of five (or more) years. The selection of these stocks should be based on their ability to provide long term net returns in the global economy in the face of sustainability issues, such as climate change, international efforts to limit CO2 and other greenhouse emissions, developing technology, human rights challenges, changing global supply chains, etc. The portfolio can be made up of any companies. Because the goal here is long term – buy and hold – you will not make any additional buy or sell decisions after the initial investment. Each security held in the portfolio must pass the KLD Research and Analytics, Inc. “Environmental” and “Human Rights” screens